Endings and Beginnings

This is the last motif on my set of lace towels.  I've been working on them since December, and I've loved them all.  I will miss this project!  I cut it off early Saturday morning and carried them to Townsend to show my weaving buddies, because they understand what it means to cut a finished project off the loom.  I thought I'd wound a 12 yard warp, but then again, I never actually measured the distance between dowels on my warping board!  I ended up with 9 towels, and very little loom waste.

When I came to work today, I saw the new herb garden between the larder and the barn.  Jeff Ross planted it while I was off on Tuesday, after asking the larder folks--me, Michael, the Butcher and Adam, the Cheesemaker--what we wanted in it.  He's only planted the stuff that will make it through the one month more of winter we have to go.  The rest of the stuff, like my rose geraniums, will have to sit in the garden shed a little longer.

It may still be too early to plant a lot of things, but I saw this outside my kitchen window and had to go out to take its picture.  I don't know what it is; Jeff would know immediately, but I think it's beautiful.













Also beautiful are the Florida strawberries I got in yesterday, and made into jam today.  I love the smell and the colors of strawberries!  These aren't the best I'll have this spring, but they will tide me over until the local berries come in, in about 3 weeks.  They make lovely jam, much better than the jam I made at the end of February when Florida strawberries were first in.  They've also gone down 9 cents a pound! Tomorrow, it's more jam, then pickled okra.  Okra's not in season here yet; I simply have to do it for the chefs who need it for a special event.  It's from Nicaragua, well-traveled okra!  When the local stuff comes in, it'll be the end of summer.  Right now, it's sweet dream time for me.  I still smell like strawberries enough to fuel some jam-o-licious dreams!